DISCONTINUED - Lights That Shine Mysteriously - Fablehaven Fanfiction

Chapter 13

Seth woke up surrounded in black.

Actually, he wasn't sure it was black. There was no light. He just instinctually knew he was surrounded in some kind of black stone. Perhaps it was his shadow-charmer powers.

He had been crumpled on the floor when he woke up. He shakily got to his feet, feeling his legs go numb from being unused and stuck in a stiff position for hours. Hours? Perhaps days. For all he knew, a minute had passed.

He stretched his arms up, and smacked something hard and cold. He kept his hands on what he guessed was the ceiling, then moved them to the sides. He found that if he kept his arms fully extended, he could just reach the edges of whatever he was in. It was rectangular-shaped, and had more space than Seth needed to be comfortable.

He found one of the corners of the box, and sat down, pulling his knees to his chest and tilting his head back onto the wall. 

Cold.

It was the first thing that Seth really noticed.

The box, chamber, whatever, was really cold. So cold it seemed to seep into his bones, so cold, that if there was light, he could probably see his breath puffing out. Considering he had been in only shorts and a thin t-shirt, he was freezing.

Well, if I die of coldness, that would be rather embarrassing, Seth thought. Yeah, I'll just be the family joke. Hey Kendra, remember your brother, the one that lived through the opening of Zzyx and died of  the chill?

Seth was being overdramatic. He knew his family wouldn't do anything like that, even if they did find out what happened to him. 

He wanted to see them. He wanted to be back at the house, surrounded by the lush greenness and forests. He wanted to be back to teasing Kendra, especially about Bracken, and pranking the various inhabitants, wanted to be playing football with the satyrs, wanted to be tromping through the woods, exploring.

Suddenly, there was light.

Seth immediately shut his eyes, the brightness painful against his eyes that had been shut in the dark for a while now. He instinctively turned his head away, and when he was sure the light wouldn't burn his eyes, he opened them.

In front of him stood the most beautiful person he'd ever seen.

Person didn't seem to be the right word. She was like a goddess, wreathed in a halo of light, with ebony hair falling down to mid-back and pale green eyes with rings of gold around them. She wore a simple blue sleeveless top and black pants that hugged her legs. She had a perfectly symmetrical face, with bright red lips and pale skin, and she was prettier than any supermodel he'd ever seen.

If Seth wasn't already on the floor, he was sure that he would've been on his knees.

Seth blinked, and the girl seemed to change forms right before his eyes. Suddenly, she didn't seem so beautiful. Her black hair seemed to be more tangled and greasy, and her eyes were pure gold, her lips turned dark blue and she turned shorter and stumpier. 

The thing that really caught Seth's attention was the silver collar she wore. It hadn't been there when he saw her as the beautiful girl she masqueraded herself as.

"Hello Seth," the girl crooned, and his glimpse of the darker side of her suddenly switched back to the beautiful girl.

"Who-who are you?" He asked, stuttering slightly. She reminded him of a venus fly trap. One moment she was still, just a normal person, then she would snatch him up and eat him.

"My, my, my," she purred, "when Graulas said you were foolish, he didn't mention the fact that you were completely clueless."

Seth shot to his feet, taking a defensive stance. "What do you know about him?" He growled.

She giggled, a beautiful, high-pitched melody. "Oh, this is truly too hilarious," she drawled, "the great Seth Sorenson is quite an idiot. My dear boy, I am Celaena." Her laughter subsided into a smirk, and she stalked towards him. His vision of her flickered, giving him a headache.

"What do you want?" He snapped, angrily glaring at the demon. Seth planted his feet firmly in the ground and took a defensive stance.

"Seth, Seth, Seth, Seth," she said in a sing-song voice, "lower your fists. I would hate to see you hurt. After all, you'd make a good apprentice."

At that, Seth felt more inflamed than ever. First she'd petrified Emma's parents, and probably Warren as well, now she'd kidnapped him and wanted him for an apprentice? His glare turned much deadlier and angrier than before, and through gritted teeth, he managed to spit out, "Like I'd ever work for you, you demon. You're a monster, and you should be killed the way Graulas and Nagi Luna were."

She laughed again - Seth was really tired of it. "See what I mean? You're already so dark, Seth Sorenson. It'll be easy to control you." She raised her hand, and swiped her index and middle finger down. 

Seth felt the ebony shadows at his feet gather into pools and solidify. He tried to move, but his feet were completely stuck!

Celaena swayed her hips as she sashayed towards him. She ran a long, sharp as a razor fingernail along his cheekbone. Seth tried to struggle, to get away from her, but it was no use.

Celaena slid her fingernail down to his chest, right over where his heart was, then muttered something under her breath. 

Seth felt his vision began to darken, again. The last thing he remembered thinking was, I have to stop blacking out.

Ah. School break. I'll be working on the next chapter, it should be up before next Monday.